One thing I wasn’t expecting were the many tunnels in Norway’s extreme north. On the map it looks like there’s a road running along the coast, with a crossing between islands which I assumed to be a bridge.

Wrong! The road is coastal yes, but there are 4 stretches where the sea cliffs are vertical, so the Norwegian navigators tunneled through them. The tunnels are impressive because in many cases they’ve kept the natural rock at the sides. No smooth concrete walls, but jagged edges reminding you exactly where you are.

The longest tunnel is nearly 7km and runs under the sea. 3km downhill, 1 on the level and then 3km uphill! There are emergency phone every kilometre, and signs telling you the distance to each end of the tunnel. It’s harsh to be critical of such great engineering, but the lighting is dismal guys – I even had to stop and take my shades off!!